Today has needed cake, I have spent in all in a sleep deprived fog looking after a toddler who is full of cold. I am so exhausted that I tried to open our front door by pressing the unlock button on our car key, and I tried to put a box of cereal in the fridge. You know those days where your brain never wakes up so needs a constant supply of sugar & caffeine to get through the day without walking into a wall?! Yeah that!

Anyway I wanted cake.....actually I needed cake, but had zero energy or motivation to make one! Luckily about 6 months ago thanks to the wonders of Pinterest I discovered that there is such a thing as a microwave brownie in a mug! The original recipe I used was from here, but I found it to be too dry. So after a bit of tinkering I have come up with my perfect Brownie....and it literally takes 2 minutes from start to finish! It's pretty life changing for a cake lover! 

If you want the recipe to be vegan just omit the chocolate chips.

This is perfect for days when you fancy something sweet but are running low on supplies & I personally think it's as yummy as any shop bought desert & costs about 20p to make! This serves 2 people really, but don't feel bad if you eat a whole one to yourself.....we've all done it before!

Enjoy!

**I have used proper measuring cups for the ingredients not the mug just in case people think it's a 1/4 of the mug. That would be a massive cake though! :)

As I have mentioned before, I am totally in love with using my slow cooker. Time is limited in our house, especially in the evenings so I really like to have dinner ready with as minimal fuss as possible. Especially lately as I have been teaching a lot in the evenings so I need sometime that can be ready for the Mr (who can cook toast & oven chips......nothing else!) to have with Henry for dinner. Also when I am tired after trying to get stuff done around the house, running after Henry & sorting out Homemade mama stuff the temptation to get takeaway is strong.....but our bank account can't afford such a luxury! If  dinner is already cooked in the slow cooker this problem doesn't arise, meaning we save money & still get a delicious dinner...win, win!

Anyway I love mexican food, burritos especially, but always find the process of cooking black beans a bit laborious! However I decided to see if I could make a 'cheats' burrito in the slow cooker.......and it worked!! It was delicious! I have frozen a big pot of it as well as it was quite a hefty serving. 

Because the whole point of  this is for it to be quick & easy I served it with 'microwaved' rice, but next time I may try adding rice to the beans for the last hour of cooking to see how that works out.

So here's the recipe. 
Enjoy!

This meal may not look like much on the plate but it was so delicious!! It's extra nice for me as I really wasn't feeling food over the weekend & I'm ashamed to say that the only thing I craved was french fries! I always want junk food when I'm sick! 

We get an organic Vegetable box delivered once a fortnight & this weeks offering contained a spaghetti squash. I have been wanting to try this for ages after reading that it makes for a great substitute for pasta. Anyway I thought I would share the recipe as I know quite a few people who also get Veg boxes and may be at a loss on what to do with their spaghetti squash! It was really tasty and much lighter than a bowl of pasta (which was great as it left us plenty of space for apple pie! for desert!).

Ok so you know I said I was excited about autumn, well I really meant it! I dug my slow cooker out from the back of the cupboard  on Friday & I have already cooked 2 meals in it! I love having a slow cooker as it give us more time to relax as a family in the evening......I don't have to worry about dinner as it's already been cooked! I just chuck everything in the slow cooker in the morning & like magic we have dinner ready as soon as the Mister gets home from work. Plus the house smells amazing with dinner cooking throughout the day......although i have to admit this does make me hungry! 

Ken's working hours have changed recently & involve an earlier start, but thankfully also an earlier finish. However the earlier start means that breakfast has been neglected over the last 2 weeks in our house, often just grabbing something on the go. This is not good for me as I have been indulging in pastries ALOT & my waistline is not very happy about this matter. So in my excitement about my slow cooker & autumn food I had a flash of inspiration......Slow cooker porridge!! You can pop the slow cooker in a timer plug & wake up to delicious porridge. Now I know that I'm a bit early with autumn, but just imagine how great this will be when the mornings are cold, dark & generally a chore again! Like waking up to a warm hug! AWESOME! 

Anyway I cooked this for breakfast yesterday as my Mum & Step-Dad came over to do some DIY on our house & I wanted something hassle free to cook for us all. It went down a treat & I know i'll be eating this alot over the coming months. Sorry for the poor quality picture.....I was hungry & in a hurry to eat my breakfast couldn't be bothered to take a decent one! 

I feel like I haven't really been on the internet in weeks! I haven't blogged, and I've barely tweeted or used Instagram which if you follow me on either you'll know is quite out of character. The brief times that i have been online, especially on Twitter i have been overwhelmed with the support and caring messages that people have sent! I haven't managed to reply to many of them but every single one was greatly appreciated and has been a boost to my very low spirits! So Thank you to my lovely followers you are all amazing!! However apart from catching a few minutes to tweet on my phone I  haven't had time to have any real online presence lately,  in fact I'm at the point where I cannot remember the last time that I just sat back and relaxed.......Me time just doesn't exist anymore! Don't get me wrong, I'm not moaning about it, and I know it will pass soon enough but I have struggled to keep up with the demands of life lately. In between looking after a very poorly toddler, trips to hospital & the doctors, sleepless nights, feeling poorly myself and then running knitting lessons I have fallen behind with everything! Emails have gone unanswered, blog post remain unwritten & I've done next to no promotion for my upcoming knitting classes and don't even get me started on housework!

I was only just starting to find my feet and get in to a good routine as a self employed Mama when Henry got ill and I feel a little bit like all of my hard work has been undone. There have been several times over the last few weeks where it's all got a bit much and I've questioned whether it is possible to balance being a stay at home Mama and trying to start your own business......there are no sick days, no parental leave to look after children & there is no nursery to drop Henry off to when I need to get stuff done. I have wanted to cancel all my lessons and just tell people that I can't do it anymore! I can't keep up with trying to promote the lessons, doing admin, and teaching while looking after a very clingy poorly 17 month old.  Add this is the stress and worry of seeing your child suddenly get really ill and not knowing how to fix it & what you get is a Mama who has cried ALOT lately!

I also get quite scared when I get this tired & run down because tiredness has always been one of my major epilepsy triggers. Whenever I have been run down in the past it has had a direct effect on the number and severity of seizures that I have had. So I have to remind myself that even though things are tough i need to look after myself especially so even though I'm tired and can't be bothered to cook I know I have to carry on eating (especially as I'm breastfeeding so much to make up for the lack of food in Henry's diet!). I thought i would share with you the recipe for one of the few meals that Henry & I have enjoyed over the last weeks! They were vegan banana pancakes......if i'm being honest the only reason they were vegan was because I had run out of eggs & couldn't be bothered to go out & buy some more!

Anyway I hope you enjoy the pancakes & I hope to be blogging a bit more over the coming week as I'm sure things will improve for Henry health wise very soon!  xxx

Hello Again!

I've been a bit quiet on the blog this week as it's just been really busy, but at the same time nothing really blog worthy has happened. I've spent the majority of my time  fighting off a cold whilst trying to appease a very grumpy teething toddler and trying to sort out everything for my knitting lessons. I'm a pretty tired Mama at the moment if I'm honest. All of this has meant that I have been having some serious cake cravings lately......sometimes only cake will do!

As you all know I have been trying to cut dairy out of my diet as much as possible to help with my PCOS, and as a result I have been experimenting with Vegan cake recipes to try and find make one that tastes as good as non-vegan cake. And I'm feeling quite chuffed with myself as I think this Lemon Cake recipe that I threw together really is the best vegan cake I've tasted! It's 100% vegan, 100% easy and 100% delicious! If you fancy a low fat cake option you can't go wrong with this lemon cake, it really is worth a try!

Ok so I fell of the sugar & dairy wagon yesterday.  I was feeling terribly hormonal and feeling pretty sorry for myself in all honesty so i made a massive cake to make me feel better. I hardly ever make cake for myself anymore because other people are always asking me to bake cakes for their birthday/special occasions and it's started to feel a bit like a chore. Lets face it where is the fun in constantly baking cake when you never get a chance to eat any of it?!?
So last night my feelings were telling me to eat Vanilla sponge cake with mascarpone & strawberry filling.  It tasted pretty damn good even if i do say so myself......but then naughty forbidden food always tastes good doesn't it?! However the remaining half of the cake has been sent into work with the Mr today to save me from my own lack of will power! 😜 🍰

I thought i would share this cake recipe with you all for full disclosure reasons......i won't only just post recipes when i'm being super healthy & virtuous. I'll also share those moments when i cave & do that terribly girly thing of eating my feelings. We all give in to temptation occasionally right & surely it's better to eat a home baked cake rather than a sub-standard & unsatisfying shop bought alternative? 

For the cake:
* 335g  soft unsalted butter
* 335g golden caster sugar
* 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
* 4 large eggs
* 335g self-raising flour
* 2 teaspoons of baking powder
* 5 tablespoons of milk
2 x 9" sandwich tins, lined at the bottom & greased.

For the filling:  
 * 6 tablespoons of good quality strawberry jam
*  1 large tub of mascarpone cheese (300g)
* 1/2 a punnet of strawberries, washed & sliced.

For the topping:
* 1 tablespoon of icing sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 180℃/Gas mark 4.
   
2. Cream together the butter, sugar, vanilla extract & eggs (add the eggs one at a time.) 
   
3. Gradually add the flour & baking powder, mixing until fully incorporated into the mix.
4. Add the milk and mix together quickly getting plenty of air in to the mixture.
5. Pour the batter evenly into the 2 cake tins & bake for 30 minutes, until the cakes are golden in colour, coming away slightly from the edge of the cake tin & springy to touch. I always use a thin cake-tester too to ensure that the centre of the cake is fully cooked.
6. Leave them to rest in the tin for 15 minutes then remove from tins & leave to cool on a cake rack.
7. Once the cakes are cool, put one one a plate/cake stand and spread with Jam. 
8. Whisk up the mascarpone to make it light & fluffy then spread on top of the jam.
9. Add the sliced strawberries evenly over the surface of the filling. 
10. Sit the other cake on top & sprinkle with icing sugar.
11. Make a cup of tea & eat a big slice of cake!

The boys of the house both enjoyed the cake too, so I don't feel so bad in making such an indulgent & PCOS diet breaking treat! Although I have to admit that Henry made us look bad as he mainly ate t

I hope you all enjoy it too & would love to hear how your versions of the recipe turn out. 

We have been feeling a little under the weather in our household over the last few days. I was too poorly yesterday to make it in to the city centre to visit the food Market which is on as part of Bristol'd Big Green Week. I love that Bristol is so environmentally friendly and that there are so many fantastic ethical restaurants here such as The Ethicurean & The Thali Cafes. In our household we aside from being vegetarians we also make every effort to shop locally and to eat with the seasons, because not only is it better for the environment, it is cheaper & the food tastes so much better!

I started to feel a little better last night & really fancied some clean fresh tasting food & this is what i came up with for our dinner: A warm green veg & new potato salad with Mint pesto. Everything in this dish is in season now and if you are anything like me you'll have plenty of mint in your garden right now........it's loving this wet & occasionally sunny weather we are having & growing like mad! As i'm still being quite strict with my PCOS diet this is another dairy free, low GI recipe so it's pretty damn good for you. Enjoy! 

Ingredients:

• For the Salad:
  
• 600g New potatoes 
  
• 1 large bunch of Asparagus
  
• 2 Courgettes
  
• 100g Sugar snap peas
  
• Lettuce leaves of your choice
  
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• a handful of pine nut kernels
• For the pesto:
• 2 generous handfuls of fresh mint
• 50g of unsalted Cashew nuts & pine nut kernels
• 75ml Olive Oil
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt & Black Pepper 

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Serves 3-4 adults.